In the Vault

Inside an Ultra-modern Data Center

By Heather Stewert | Photos by Jac Scott

May 8, 2014

In a few short years, C7 Data Centers has grown from a single, small facility into five centers spread from Lindon to Salt Lake City with more than 600 national and international clients. CEO Wes Swenson says the company’s facilities “are wildly different from most data centers.” He approached their development with an eye to aesthetic and functional design, as well as the minimization of power consumption and other environmental impacts.

C7 uses an advanced canopy cold-row cooling system. Cold air is forced into the servers from below and held in the covered row, while the warm air generated by the servers is directed into an intake system. The focus is on cooling the servers, rather than the entire room.

The new Granite Point II data center, launched in early 2014, features a 36-inch raised floor, a full-bay LED lighting system, 20-foot diameter fans to lift hot air off the server cabinets, higher-efficiency cooling and higher power density.

Every C7 facility has its own network operations center, where employees monitor the data center and its various systems. The centers all have 24/7 security and video surveillance (video recordings are kept for one full year), and the sites are staffed at all times.

Air vents in the floor allow cold air to be forced into the server cabinet row; the cold air is contained by an overhead canopy. At C7, the temperature in the cabinet row is usually around 64 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, helping to extend the lifespan of the server equipment.